By: Hoondog2

Hoondog2 — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:16:49 +0000

I agree the actual trades might be a little hopeful.

By: aj_furf

aj_furf — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:29:55 +0000

As a Leaf fan, I would LOVE these trades. Unfortunately, my logic is telling me you’re a bit off-base with your expectations.

There’s no doubt a team that could pick up a package like Sundin-Kaberle-Tucker would be giving themselves a HUGE boost for the play-offs, but I don’t think a cream-of-the-crop player such as Phaneuf is what teams are willing to give up. When you take the reality that Sundin might not re-sign with the team that trades for him, would you trade Phaneuf for Kaberle and Tucker? I think the Leafs are more likely to find trading partners who are offering young mid-level players, prospects and/or draft picks for these players; very similar to the package the Flyers got for Forsberg.

As far as Jason Blake goes, I have a hard time believing that he has any trade value. It’s fair to say that he’s just having an off-season, but when his contract calls for $4M for the next four years (after this one), he’s been recently diagnosed with Leukemia (albeit a treatable form), and he’s 34yrs old with only 9 goals this year, I just can’t see the Leafs being able to swap him for a good prospect like Bobby Ryan. Mind you, Brian Burke has handed out equally stupid contacts recently (please refer to Bertuzzi, Todd), and you can never disqualify a guy like Charles Wang, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that Blake could turn out to be the next Sergei Samsonov and become everyone’s favourite waiver-wire pick-up.

I think your Kubina-Wellwood trade is feasible. Kubina alone could possibly land you a 1st rounder. I know this comment is subject to several Habs fans hollering at us for over-valuing our players, but we’ve all seen some teams throw away their 1st round picks at the deadline in exchange for just an “ok” player several times (unfortunately, as leaf fans, we’ve been on the opposite end of this equation more often than most). I can definitely see the Rangers as a suitor for Kubina, but I would expect a more likely trade would be for one of their pending UFA’s (in order to clear the cap space), plus maybe a 2nd rounder.

This is obviously personal opinion, but I can’t help but look at Wellwood and see a future Steve Sullivan. I was shocked when the Leafs waived Sullivan years ago and it was crushing to see how good he turned out to be. Of course, Wellwood could also go the route of Sergei Berezin and be nothing more than an answer to a trivia question in 5 yrs. I think he can be re-signed for cheap and I think he’s worth keeping for now.

Poni for a Exelby is a wash and a deal that could be made based on contrasting needs: A decent defensive forward for a decent defensive defenceman.

If the Leafs could turn Gill into a 2nd round pick I’d say do it. It’s a realistic deadline deal that a GM desperate for a reasonably priced, hulking D-man would make.

I agree with waiving Raycroft. If Brian Burke couldn’t find a suitor for Bryzgalov, I can’t imagine anyone would give up even a 7th round pick for Razor. If he’s picked up off of waivers, the Leafs are still on the hook for $1m of his salary, but at least he becomes much more attractive to teams picking up the other half and only paying $1m for a pretty good backup.

I hope I avoided dwelling on any specific trade you mentioned. I like your overall idea of offloading our veterans for draft picks/prospects and hopefully Fletcher will be able to pull off something along the lines of what you’ve suggested.

Comments on: Where to from here?

By: Hoondog2

By: aj_furf